what they’re doing – but this renewed
squad focus does have an effect. A squad
of attackers is able to sneak its way into a
house near the flag of our second
defensive stronghold, and makes effective
use of the new squad systems to harass
us from within. Eventually, we’re able to
take them all out – causing a squad wipe,
forcing them to respawn at their base.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t lone
wolf,” says Morrell, “because everyone
does it depending on the circumstances.
But ultimately, Battlefield has always been
about the balanced rock, paper, scissor
gameplay, and it still is.”
Fortifications are another new feature
of Battlefield V. I don’t get the chance to
test this out either, but the idea is that
players can reinforce their position,
building everything from sandbags to
supply depots. This ties into another
change. Generally, your ammo will be
lower on spawning, and you won’t heal
back to full health after being attacked.
Instead, you’re expected to make use of
your teammates’ resources – either the
health and ammo they throw down, or the
supply bunkers they build.
After making us retreat one final time,
we rally and mount a defence that uses up
the remainder of the attacking side’s
respawn tickets. The demo ends here, but,
in the full game, the Grand Operation will
continue. Day three is the first point that a
side can win, by earning a decisive victory.
Fail to triumph definitively, and you’ll move
to day four – the Final Stand.
“You’ve been battling for two or three
days,” says Morrell, “you’re starting to get
low on ammunition, you’re tired, and
eventually you get close enough to get to
your final objective, and that’s where we
get into Final Stand. It’s been four days,
let’s just do one last push and try to get
this done.” Final Stand is a purely infantry
team deathmatch where each player has
just one life. Resources will be an issue, so
players will need to work together –
resupplying and building depots – to fill
their ammo reserves for the fight ahead.
As players drop out, they’ll be able
spectate their remaining teammates.
Good luck to the final player – as 31 eyes
are on them, hoping they can win it for
their team. No pressure.BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
My hands-on session is too brief to get
much of a feel for the minutiae of this new
Battlefield – honestly, it’s a loud, chaotic
battle, similar to the other ones. There are
reasons to be hopeful, though: most
noticeably the squad changes, but also
how the broader scope for chaos and
destruction results in lots of moment-to-
moment decision-making as you try to
shift the tide of battle. It’s fun and frantic,
with plenty of scope for helping your team.
Grand Operations are the centrepiece
of the new Tides of War – a series of
monthly chapters that replace the
previous Battlefield expansion cycle. In
Battlefield V, all maps will be free – added
as part of each Tides of War release. Each
chapter has a specific theme – some
historical in nature, others more playful,
featuring restricted rulesets.
In addition, Battlefield V will also
feature the regular array of multiplayer
modes, a four player co-op mode called
Combined Arms, and – surprise, surprise- a battle royale mode, which will arrive
sometime after launch. It’s all tied
together via The Company, a new feature
that lets you customise and create
loadouts for multiplayer – setting up
predefined subclasses and equipment
builds, and also decorating your soldiers,
weapons and vehicles using a selection of
decals and cosmetic items. Those
cosmetics will be earned both with
rewards gained by playing Tides of War
chapters, but also through real-money
purchases – although DICE is keen to
point out the lack of loot boxes.
I ask Morrell how outlandish such
vanity items could get in a real-world
setting. “It needs to be believable,” he
says. “It needs to fit with the era. We’re not
creating a steampunk universe or
anything like that. But if it was used, we
can have it. Doing research for this, we
stumbled across a guy called ‘Mad Jack’
Churchill, a British guy who was part of the
Norwegian campaign. He was the only
one who’s got a confirmed kill with a sword
in World War II. He used to go into battle
with a bagpipe and a Scottish broadsword.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if we included a
bagpipe as an item because there was one
crazy guy who used it.”
Perhaps that you could argue that
emotional whiplash is natural state for a
game about World War II. It was a time of
horror and action, of bravery and heroism,
but also of a man charging through
Norway with a sword and bagpipes.
Phil Savage
ALL MAPS WILL BE FREE –
ADDED AS PART OF EACH TIDES
OF WAR RELEASEBattlefield V
PREVIEW
The first Grand Operation
features the British in Norway.See a mounted gun? Grab
a truck and move it.